White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

These soft & chewy snickerdoodle cookies are full of pumpkin, white chocolate, and cinnamon sugar. You’re going to want a batch lying around for those chilly fall days. Warning: they disappear quickly!

Today I present my fall version of snickerdoodles. And holy mackerel, these pumpkin snickerdoodles deserve a standing ovation. Two, actually. They’re the much anticipated sequel to my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. (Aka the chewy pumpkin cookie of which all cakey pumpkin cookies are jealous!)

I’m completely crazy when it comes to pumpkin cookies. You see, pumpkin has a way of making everything it touches taste cakey. I prefer a chewy and dense cookie, so it took me awhile to integrate pumpkin into cookies to create that delicious texture. For the record, I love pumpkin cake but when I want a cookie, I want a cookie. Not cake.

Does that make sense?

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles Success Tips

You will notice that there is no egg* used in this cookie recipe. Read here about why I leave out the eggs in my pumpkin cookies.

Both baking powder and baking soda are used. Make sure yours are fresh and have not expired. I replace both every 3 months because I find they lose their strength not much longer after that.

I use white chocolate flavored morsels for these snickerdoodle cookies. If you prefer to use pure white chocolate chunks instead of the chips, go ahead.

Careful not to overmeasure your flour. This is so important! I always suggest readers to invest in a food scale to accurately measure flour. Especially for cookies. Even 1 extra Tablespoon can make a huge difference. Here is the food scale I own – it is the handiest tool in my kitchen at this point.

Chilling the cookie dough is mandatory. Good news: only 30 minutes.

These cookies are everything you love about snickerdoodle cookies, cozy fall afternoons, and pumpkin pie all wrapped into one. And the addition of sweet and creamy white chocolate put them completely over the top. I find their pumpkin flavor is more pronounced on day 2. Similar to how banana bread’s flavor is more developed on the 2nd day. These cookies just get better with time – if they last that long!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 Tablespoons (86g) pumpkin puree (use the rest of the can in any of these pumpkin recipes)
• 1 and 1/2 cups (190g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
• 1/2 cup (90g) white chocolate chips or chunks

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in the microwave. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla and pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, toss together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft. Fold in white chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to have them evenly dispersed in the dough. Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes, or up to 3 days.* Chilling is mandatory.
3. Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
4. Roll the dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each. Mix together the remaining 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Roll each of the dough balls generously in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and arrange on 2 baking sheets. Slightly flatten the dough balls because the cookies will only slightly spread in the oven. The photo above shows what the cookie dough balls should look like before baking.
5. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes or until the edges appear set. The cookies will look very soft and under-baked. Remove from the oven and press a few more white chocolate chips onto the tops, if desired. If you find that your cookies didn’t spread much at all, flatten them out with the back of a spoon when you remove them from the oven.
6. Cool cookies for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack. (Tip: The longer the cookies cool, the chewier they will be!) I let them sit out for at least 1 hour before enjoying and I find that their chewiness and pumpkin flavor is more prominent on day 2.

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